Oregon Fitness Pioneer Dies at 95

PORTLAND, OR -- Fitness pioneer Joe Loprinzi, who was a contemporary and friend of Jack LaLanne’s, died this month at the age of 95.

Loprinzi, and his brother, Sam Loprinzi, opened Loprinzi’s Gym in Southeast Portland in 1948. Joe Loprinzi also served as a trainer at the Multnomah Athletic Club in Portland for 60 years and hosted a morning exercise TV show from 1960 to 1978.

The brothers served in World War II on a Navy ammunition ship and were later exercise instructors with LaLanne on Treasure Island in San Francisco. Sam Loprinzi died in 1996.

A new wing at the Multnomah Athletic Club was named the Loprinzi Wing in Joe’s honor in 1997.

“I’ve never known anyone who didn’t love Joe,” former club president Phil Brown said in an e-mail to club members. “He touched so many lives in such a positive way.”